5 Ups And 6 Downs From WWE TLC 2016

3. Extinguishing The Momentum

nikki bella carmella
WWE.com

After a pretty electric opening match that featured a title change, TLC abruptly snuffed out the flames with a Nikki Bella/Carmella no-DQ match.

First off, a no-DQ match with count-outs? Oooookay… But then, the action itself consisted of a few nice moves and a lot of kendo stick usage. Sure, the PPV theme means that tables, ladders and chairs are going to get used ad nauseum, but still, this was pretty tame for a no-DQ match, especially one that was supposed to settle a months-long feud.

On top of all that, the finish consisted of Nikki emptying a fire extinguisher on/at Carmella, immediately followed up by a Rack Attack 2.0 for the pin. We were left with JBL explaining how a fire extinguisher is cold, sucks all the oxygen from the immediate area and leaves you blind and disoriented.

That was the finish. It wasn’t quite slipping on a banana peel, but it was pretty sad.

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.